McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) to Double China Locations by 2022

MCD will have 4,500 stores in China by the end of 2022

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is planning to almost double the number of restaurants it has in China by 2022.

McDonald’s Corporation currently has roughly 2,500 locations in mainland China. It plans to increase this number to 4,500 by the end of 2022. The company is calling this its “Vision 2022” plan. It will have the comping steadily increasing the number of restaurants its opens each year from 250 in 2017 to 500 in 2022.

The expansion of McDonald’s Corporation locations in mainland China will be possible through a deal with CITIC Limited, CITIC Capital Partners, and The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG). These companies have formed a partnership that has them handling all of MCD’s business in China.

The agreement to have the above companies take over McDonald’s Corporation’s business in China has been given approval from Chinese regulators. This will makes them the largest franchisee of the company outside of the United States.

McDonald’s Corporation’s expansion in China also has a focus on enhancing customer experiences. This includes setting up a delivery up that will cover 75% of its locations. It also plans to make 90% of its stores “Experience of the Future” restaurants. These will focus on offering digitalized and personalized dining experiences to customers.

“China will soon become our largest market outside of the United States,” McDonald’s Corporation CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement. “Mainland China and Hong Kong are leading the global system in capturing new consumer trends such as delivery and digitalization and its driving strong performance and growth momentum.”

MCD stock was down slightly as of Tuesday morning.

As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.